Category Miscellaneous

The summer is usually long and boring as I desperately wait for the season to begin again in August. Even when a major tournament such as the Euros or World Cup is on and is supposed to fill that void, I still miss the thrill of club football. However, this year hasn’t been that bad. For a start, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was very exciting (up until the Quarter Finals) and highly watchable as a lot of stars rose to prominence. It was also great to see Arsenal win the historic trophy for the second time, following France’s victory back in 1998

Another reason this summer has been so enjoyable is that Arsenal have been very busy in the transfer market and this time, Arsène Wenger has not left all of his shopping until last minute. Ivan Gazidis claimed a huge war chest was available to spend and the boss said he was going to be active in the window after the World Cup but they had both said that before so I wasn’t holding my breath. Both kept to their promise and on July 10th (a few days before Germany’s triumph in Rio de Janeiro in actual fact), Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez was signed from Barcelona in a deal reported to be worth £35 Million. I’m still pinching myself as I write this sentence.

This big name was soon followed up by David Ospina (Goalkeeper), Mathieu Debuchy and Callum Chambers (Defenders), bringing our spending total to an estimated £66 Million. Incredible to think that a club who doesn’t normally spend has seemingly broke open the piggy bank. As a fan, it makes me confident that the board are desperate to build on that FA Cup success and have finally realised Wenger needs financial support to build a title challenging squad. Even more exciting is the fact that Arsène has hinted more signings before the end of the month with names such as Khedira, Carvalho and even Hummels being floated around.

Personally, I feel getting a strong defensive midfielder has been crucial for a few years now so I’d take Carvalho if given the choice. Also, one more back-up CB is crucial what with Vermaelen’s imminent departure. I’m quite happy for Wenger to sign someone out of the blue like he did with Chambers a few weeks. An expensive international defender is not required for the role so we don’t need to go big. If we can secure two more signings to make us more solid at the back, we definitely will be a force to be reckoned with and everyone (including Mourinho) should be running scared.

Welcome to my new blog on the beautiful game. Football is ATeamEffort so I would like some other writers to post (or it will just be me which might become boring). If you’re interested, either drop me a line at goonerglen1@gmail.com or tweet me @goonerglen1. Hope to hear from you all soon.